Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,

Welcome, everyone, to the 2024 school year. I hope that the school holidays were a restful and rejuvenating break for all our students and staff and that everyone is looking forward to a joy-filled year of learning. A very special welcome to Mt Carmel’s new Kindergarten students and to all students and families who are joining the Mt Carmel community this year. I hope you and your children will soon feel very at home here at Mt Carmel School. As always, there has been much going on around our buildings and grounds over the Christmas break in preparation for the new school year. I am very grateful to all staff for their preparation of classrooms and learning spaces throughout the school over the holidays. Thanks to Robbie Shepherd for preparing the school grounds; he has spent many hours making our school look beautiful.

We have a busy start to the new year: our Opening School Mass and Leadership Induction Ceremony will be held tomorrow, Thursday 8 February, at 9:30am in St Augustine’s Church; our Welcome BBQ and Open Classroom Evening will be held the same evening, Thursday 8 February between 5pm and 6:30pm; next week we will be holding our traditional Pancake Breakfast on Shrove Tuesday, 13 February, from 7:30am; and our school Swimming Carnival will be held on Friday 16 February. 


Communication
Open, honest and timely communication is a very important part of our relationship with parents. If you have any concerns about any aspect of your child’s progress, your first point of contact should always be your child’s teacher. Please email them directly or phone the school office to leave a message and they will be able to organise a mutually convenient time for a meeting or conversation. Likewise, please do not hesitate to make contact with me directly if you have any concerns, questions or feedback about any aspect of school life at Mt Carmel. You can make contact via the school office or send an email to me directly at michael.green@cg.catholic.edu.au. Please remember, though, that staff may not respond to emails or return phone calls after 4:30pm and before 8:30am during the week and not at all on weekends. We hope you support our endeavour to promote a healthy work-life balance for our staff.

Remember, too, that Compass is the main channel that we use to communicate with the school community, so please ensure that you can access your Compass account and have notifications enabled from the app, and that your contact details, including email address, are current. You can also use Compass to email your child’s teacher directly. If you have any difficulty accessing Compass, please contact the school office for assistance.


Opening Mass and School Theme
Tomorrow at 9:30am Fr Peter will help or school to welcome the new year by celebrating Mass with us in St Augustine’s Church and blessing our new student leaders. Families are welcome to attend Mass to celebrate with us. Our theme this year is ‘Full of Grace’, and we will be focusing on Marian spirituality and what we can learn from Mary’s unique discipleship.

The beautiful image we are using is a modern rendition of one of the oldest known images of Mary to be venerated by early Christians living in community on Mt Carmel, north of Jerusalem. The original icon was reputedly painted by St Luke, the Gospel author, and is known as La Bruna (the Brown Madonna). It portrays a beautiful, tender moment between mother and child and is rich with symbolism that reflects church traditions about the mother of Jesus. I am very grateful to artist Valerie Vescovi, who granted us permission to reproduce the image, turning down our offer of payment. In the words of the artist, "Our Lady is for everybody, and I think right now the world really needs her.” Thank you, Valerie! https://www.valvescoviart.com/home.

           The 'La Bruna’ Icon                                    Valerie’s Contemporary Icon


Welcome BBQ and Open Classrooms
Tomorrow, Thursday 8 February, we will be holding a welcome BBQ and Open Classrooms. The BBQ will commence at 5pm on the school playground, and the classrooms will be open between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. Thanks to those who have submitted an RSVP to the BBQ; if you’ve not yet done so and are intending to come to the BBQ, it’s not too late! CLICK HERE TO RSVP. 

The open classrooms are an opportunity for your child to show you their classroom and introduce you to their teacher. Each class will have information for parents to familiarise you with routines for the year and topics of study for Term 1.


Canteen Opens This Week
The school canteen will commence operation tomorrow. All orders are requested to be made via Qkr! before 9am each Thursday and Friday. 


Swimming Carnival
Weather permitting, our school swimming carnival will be held in Week 3, Friday 16 February. The event is a Primary (Year 3-6) carnival; however, students in Year 2 who will be turning 8 in 2024 are able to attend if they are competitive swimmers. Further information about the carnival, including how to enrol your child in events or volunteer as a parent helper, is outlined in Sports News by Mr Dunstan further in the newsletter. 


Kindergarten Rest Days and Assessment
I hope that everyone’s first days of ‘Big School’ have been filled with excitement and fun. Kindergarten Rest Days commence today and will continue on Wednesdays until Week 6. The final rest day will be on March 6, with full weeks commencing in Week 7. The Kindergarten Assessment Program commences next week, and families are asked to contact the school office to book an appointment time with their child’s teacher.


Food Allergies
Although Mt Carmel does not declare ourselves to be a nut-free school, we do encourage all our students and families to be allergy aware. This week, if your child is sharing a classroom with another student who suffers from a food or contact allergy, you will receive a letter outlining precautions that we ask you to consider. Please also have a conversation with your child about the importance of not sharing food at school, as it contributes to our Stay Safe rule.


Road Safety
The start of the year is a good time to give a reminder about traffic safety around the school. I ask all parents to model safe behaviour when driving, parking and crossing roads around the school. Also please be mindful that the length of Dutton St from the school office to the Meehan St intersection is a no parking zone before and after school, so you can use these spaces to drop-off or pick up, but if you leave your vehicle, you may be booked.

Please also be mindful of the fact that our school is situated in the middle of a residential area. Courteous behaviour from everyone in our school community goes a long way to maintaining good relations with our neighbours.


Playgroup
The Mt Carmel Playgroup will commence tomorrow, running each Thursday between 9 and 11am. All families with pre-school aged children are welcome, so please spread the word if you have a family friend who may enjoy attending. The cost of $3 for the first child and $1 for each subsequent child in the family covers morning tea and art/craft supplies. Thanks to Amber Maher for leading our Playgroup.


Reconciliation
A reminder to families of students in Year 3 and above that registrations for the Sacrament of Reconciliation are due tomorrow. The registration form can be downloaded from the parish website (http://staug-yass.org.au/wp/sacraments/first-reconciliation-eucharist-2019/) and returned as a PDF via email to the parish sacramental team (sacramentalteamyass@gmail.com) or dropped off as a hard-copy to either the school or parish office.

Newborn Intensive Care Foundation Fundraiser
And finally, for this week, I would like to affirm the efforts of one of our senior students and encourage your support, too. Ekaterina Mulcair in Year 6 has started a fundraiser to help newborn babies by raising funds for the Newborn Intensive Care Foundation (www.newborn.org.au), which funds medical equipment and research for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Canberra Hospital. With the lack of maternity services in Yass, this fundraising effort is something that is of direct support to many in our community. Indeed, my own great-nephew, whom I met in person for the first time only yesterday, had a stint in NICU after being born by emergency caesarean over the weekend.

May God’s peace be in your families, 

Michael Green
Principal

Welcome to Term 1! It is fantastic to see everyone after the holidays refreshed and ready for Term 1. 

Our school theme for this year is about Mary, full of grace, the mother of Jesus and his first disciple. The angel Gabriel called Mary, full of Grace, which means she is filled with the presence of God. Mary is filled with the Holy Spirit and cooperates with the Spirit in the rebirthing of the Church throughout history. She is also Mother of the Church who inspires us to deeper faith, hope and love.

Mary teaches us to be more loving and include everyone and to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. We are called into a loving relationship with Mary and Jesus, and she invites us to be loving, inclusive and full of grace.

Marian Spirituality Professional Learning 
Last Wednesday, Mt Carmel School staff had the opportunity to work with Br David Hall, a Marist Brother, and the foundation Dean of the ACU La Salle Academy. The PL provided staff with a vital understanding of Marian Spirituality and the contemporary theological understandings of the significance of Mary to the Catholic Church, including her role in bringing God to us, in the person of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is vital work for the school as we look to renew our Vision and Mission in 2024.

Opening School Mass
Tomorrow, Thursday 8 February, we will be holding our Opening School Mass at 9:30am in St Augustine's Church. All families are welcome to attend Mass to celebrate with us, especially parents of our Student Leadership Team, who will be inducted formally to their positions during the Mass.

Enjoy your week!
Eva Karakotas
Religious Education Coordinator

Hail Mary, full of Grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Luke 1:26-28

Swimming Carnival
The Mt Carmel School Swimming Carnival will be held on Friday 16 February, weather permitting. The backup date is Tuesday 20 February. This event is a Primary Carnival (Years 3-6); however, students in Year 2 who turn 8 years of age in 2024 and are competitive swimmers are eligible to attend. Any Year 2 students participating in events will need to notify their teacher and request a card in order to register through the sports tracker app.

The event will be held at the Yass Memorial Swimming Pool. Yass Valley Council has copies of all Life Guard qualifications and WWCCs.

Students participating in 100m events and 200m IM will need to be at the pool ready to swim by 8:30am. The pool will be open for warm-ups from 8am.

All other students will commence the day at school, as usual, and walk to the pool with their class. At the conclusion of the carnival, students will walk back to school with their class in time for the normal end of the school day. Parents taking their child directly from the pool must see their child's teacher before departing, to sign them out. Entry to the pool is $1.60 which can be paid through Compass (a Compass notification will be sent in the coming days). Students with a season pass do not need to make this payment, but must ensure they take their pass with them on the day. Students must ensure that they apply sunscreen prior to entering the pool and reapply regularly throughout the day. The pool canteen will operate during the day, selling a variety of cold food but students should bring enough cold water to keep themselves well hydrated during the day. Students are able to bring house coloured clothing and accessories and change at the pool

We will require lots of parent help to run the carnival. If you are able to help out at on the day, please complete the Google form using the link below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/106fBjHRDcGD8OtyhdCaQATHLAXL_JIxstEBcKsz2qo4/edit

Students will have received their login details for the Sports Tracker program today and are able to login and self register. Registrations will close on Wednesday 14th February at 3pm.

8 and 9 year old students who wish to compete in 200m medley, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke or 50m butterfly events will need to register in the 10 year old event as they are junior events.

The 100m freestyle events are junior/senior so 9 and 10 year olds will need to register for 10 year old events and 11 and 12 year olds need to register for 12 year old events.

It is really important to register for events you wish to participate in to ensure the smooth running of the carnival. It is very difficult to add students into races at the last moment once programs have been printed. If you experience any difficulties with this process or if students did not receive their login card, please contact me on: edward.dunstan@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Ted Dunstan
Sports Coordinator

Welcome to the 2024 school year! 

Save the Dates
Below are the dates for some important school celebrations. Further information about each event will be provided closer to the time. Looking forward to seeing you throughout the year.

Events	Dates and Further Information
Scholastic Book Fair and Grandparents Morning Tea	Friday 23 February 2024 Book Fair Garden: Catch the reading bug!
ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime	Wednesday 22 May 2024 Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker
CBCA 2024 Book Week	17 - 23 August 2024 Theme: Reading is Magic

Kind regards,
Natalie Broers
Teacher Librarian

This Thursday 9 February, the school canteen will open for both recess and lunch. Orders are to be placed via QKR! prior to 9am each morning of canteen. If you have any problems submitting your order, or miss the cut off time, please contact the front office on 6226 3357.

If you have placed an order for your child and the they are unable to attend school on that day, please contact the office as soon as possible, as if time permits, we will be able to move their order to the following day/week. 

In the coming weeks, menu items will change and a Lent menu will be available. We do our best to cater for all dietary needs. 

Kids will probably enjoy a Slushy at lunch time, however a limit of 45 per flavour is available each day. For our new families, please note the below information regarding the Blizzard FRUITZ products:

• 99.9% fruit juice (sourced from Australian Growers)
• Natural Flavours and Natural Colours
• 99% Fat Free
• No Added Sugar

If you have any questions regarding the menu, please email me at  emma.mcevoy@cg.catholic.edu.au or the office on 6226 3357. 

Emma McEvoy
Canteen Manager

Mt Carmel Playgroup will commence tomorrow, Thursday 8 February. 

The Mt Carmel School Uniform Shop is open each Tuesday afternoon between 2.30pm and 4.00pm during school terms.

Has your child ever thought about learning piano?
Margaret Hanson teaches lessons from the school Monday to Friday during school terms.

Please contact Margaret on 0407 285 420 if you have any questions or would like to secure a space for your child this year. 

Has your child ever thought about playing guitar?
Spaces are now avalable for 2024. Fill in the below form and drop back to the office to secure your place with Den.

Healthy Lunch Box Video

Cricket Blast continues this term but it has been moved to FRIDAYS, with sessions from 5pm at Victoria Park.
New starters are welcome so please come along and join in the fun of Blast Cricket.